After breakfast I intended to confront Ethan once and for all but Mr. Jenson's voice stopped me. He beckoned me to his office.
When I stepped in, he was at his desk, working. For a second, I could actually picture Ethan in his place - old but still dedicated to his work.
"Juliet. What have I been hearing about you from Ethan? You went to his workplace and stayed there the whole day?" He asked as soon as I took a seat in front of him.
My smile dropped and my eyes widened as I realised Ethan blabbed about me to him.
"Why did you do that? He complained to me that he found your presence intruding and uncomfortable. What's your explanation?"
"I-I," I stammered and blushed. I hadn't expected him to tell Mr. Jenson everything like a little kid would do to his parent. "I felt like he was avoiding me purposefully with the excuse of work. I tried several times to confront him about it but he dodged my questions each time. So I had no other way than to force
"What is it?"He shook his head. "You might run away again," He chuckled humorlessly.Those words sparked a conflicting curiosity within me. I wanted to know, yet after hearing him say that, I also didn't want to know."Is it that bad?""I think it's disastrous. You might have a different opinion. I don't know if it's good or bad. It sometimes feels so good and right and sometimes just wrong and horrible."We didn't say anything for a few more minutes during which we exchanged glances at each other and stares when we thought the other wasn't looking."Good night, Juliet."Without any further words, he disappeared behind his door and I was left standing alone in the hallway.I entered my own room, my head reeling from what just happened.Now I definitely understood that we should put a lot of space between us.Ethan had some sort of proximity problem with me. He liked to be close to me in a way friends shouldn't. A
The next day itself, I got to work. I assumed it would take me at least two days to set things up.I was going to throw a surprise party for Keith where I would invite his whole family.I decided that the best venue for that would be the Jenson's huge garden. No one actually visited the garden a lot aside from Keith and I and the gardeners who took care of it.I told my dad about my plan, telling him all the reasons about why we should throw this party. To make him say yes, I told them that it was also like a little appreciation party for all the cooks and the kitchen staff, although it was mainly for Keith's birthday but he didn't need to know that. To my happiness, he said that he couldn't make time for this appreciation party and I told him that I'd replace him and be the host. No one was actually interested in hosting the 'appreciation party' which made me a little upset because I had expected something better from them. But I told myself that I was not in t
We took his mediocre car which we had used when we went to the movie theater. It felt like it was a long time ago and indeed it was. It was two months ago when everything was simple and we were good friends who didn't have unknown feelings for each other.I searched up gift shops nearby and directed him to the location."Tell me, what do men usually like for a birthday present?""Whose birthday is it?""A close friend of mine. He had his birthday a few days ago.""He's a man?"I nodded."Keith?""Yes, now can you please tell me what a man would like to have for a present?" I asked impatiently."Men hate birthday presents. So I'm going to drive back to the mansion because you're not getting a gift for Keith."He was about to make a turn back but I stopped him."Who doesn't like to get gifts for their birthday? Don't lie to me.""I'm not lying. You'll see just how much he'll hate no matter what you giv
It was finally time for the party. I had told some of Keith's friends to tell him that they were going to a really special place and to tell him to dress his best.It was already seven in the evening so he must be here any minute now. I had worn a simple dark blue dress and wanted to ensure everything was perfect in the garden so I came a few minutes before seven o'clock.His family had already arrived as quietly as could be managed. We had successfully kept Keith from knowing that we were planning something. I interacted with his family for a bit, playing for some time with the little children. The cake was ready and so was his present from me.Now we all just awaited Keith's entrance."You did a nice job with the preparations." Said a voice next to my ear. I was startled for a second at the unexpected voice and turned around only to see Ethan."Thanks. What're you doing here?""I'm here to attend the party.""I don't think you got a
The next morning, I had my priorities laid out. I was going to avoid Ethan as much as possible because it seemed that he wasn't going to make any effort to kill whatever it was between us. I would hang out with Keith but those were going to be limited as I had my suspicions about him and if it was true I didn't want to lead him on.I was going to concentrate on my studies, exercise and eat healthily. It was just to fill up my day so that if I kept myself busy, I wouldn't have to worry about unwanted interactions with either of the two guys in my life right now.And I was going to spend time with people around me because I didn't know just how much time I had among them. Just like the day I was kidnapped,there would be a day where my world would be completely turned upside down again and I didn't want to have any regrets about not getting to know these great people who not everyone had the chance to know. I was going to make the most of it without complicating thi
We weren't sitting too close but we were definitely close enough to feel the warmth of each other's presence.A silence had descended upon us from the moment I took a seat next to him.From the corner of my eye, I had caught him smiling down at the soda. It made me smile too, thinking that he had smiled because I chose to sit with him but then I shoved the thought away, telling myself that it was probably because he liked the soda.We sat there drinking quietly, no annoying slurping sounds from either of us to break the awkward silence, at least it was awkward to me. Ethan on the other hand, didn't seem to mind the lack of conversation between us.I glanced at him from time to time because unknowingly it had become a habit."Do you know why I hated you all those years ago?" He asked, taking me off guard because that was the last thing I thought he would ask or say.It took some time to gather my thoughts and remember his and Juliet's history.
For the first time, I felt like my heart was breaking. It was stupid because the reason was stupid. I was upset because Ethan liked Juliet and not me and all this time I thought he liked me. I liked the feeling I got when I knew he liked me. Which made me question if I even liked him at all. Did I confuse liking that he liked me, with me liking him?This whole situation was such a disappointment for me. Our feelings for each other were starting to look beautiful to me until Ethan told me what he did. It made me realize things.I knew that I had thought too deeply into his words and he didn't imply that he liked the Juliet before she ran away. I just concluded it by myself because he saw me as Juliet so he obviously liked her and not me."Juliet?"I looked up to see Keith.Juliet. Right. That was what I was to everyone.Who was I anymore anyway? I felt like Juliet was eating its way into Julie. Julie's existence was day by day becoming nonexi
Itossed and turned all night, not getting a wink of sleep and that was mostly because I had slept for the whole day.Every time I replayed what had happened, I'd feel bad and guilty. I tried distracting myself by watching a couple of episodes of a show but then I soon got bored of it as it didn't really catch my attention.It felt like a long night. It was really weird how you could sleep for eight hours on an average and still think that you just slept for a minute but when you're awake for the same eight hours at night it feels long and unending.Once it was six in the morning, I trudged downstairs feeling much better now. Although I still had a little bit of cold it was still better than what I was feeling the other day.No one was awake at this time, probably except for Ethan. He must be getting ready for the day.As expected the kitchen was empty as well. Everyone was sleeping and I tried to be as quiet as possi
♡five years later♡I bent down to examine it through the glass. It was beautiful but so were all the others. I nudged Olivia next to me."What do you think about this one?" I asked, hoping she could help me out with choosing something.She examined it closely. "Like I said about everything you showed me, it's really pretty.""That isn't helping me to choose only one!""Julie, how am I supposed to know which one is perfect? Everyone has different tastes and what I like isn't necessarily something that Ethan might like. You know him the best so you choose one."I sighed. "Fine, fine." I looked at her hand to stare at her wedding ring glinting on her finger under the fluorescent lights."Hurry, we've been here for an hour now. I'm going to go sit down somewhere.""God, I'm sorry. Yeah, sit somewhere. I'll make it quic
"I assume she must've retaliated?"He grimaced. "Yeah, she dumped an entire pack of flour over me and it was okay because it was powder until she started chasing me around with the hose turning me into a man dough."I chuckled. "Don't hate her too much. She's still my sister." It felt weird to think of her as my sister. "Oh and is it still true that you used to envy her because she did whatever she wanted and didn't give a shit?"He grumbled under his breath. "Don't you ever tell her that.""So thatistrue.""I'm serious. You're not allowed to tell her. She'd bring it up every time we bicker.""Okay, I won't." I said, thoroughly amused."Good. So now that we've got all problems out of the way, I think you should tell me about yourself, Julie Jenson.""Well that's a hard thing to do. What do you want to know?""Just tell me everything about your life from as long as you can remember. I want to get to k
It had now being a week since I visited my aunt. I was settling comfortably into my college schedule like before and there was no difference even in my routine with the exception that I no longer woke up at five in the morning to get ready and go for a jog. I now woke up at eight for classes at nine like a sane normal college student and Olivia was proud of that. She was just happy that I'd no longer knock on her door at the crack of dawn demanding for her company while I jogged. I had to admit it felt pretty good to get three hours of extra sleep everyday.It had been a week but Ethan still did not come to meet me. I wondered if I should just lose hope and move on but it was too soon to take that decision but it would certainly be considered late if he showed up now. But I missed him. I missed him too much to the point where every brown haired guy made me think it was him, only to be disappointed.Olivia and I had been getting along pretty well. Amelia had called the
"He had already called and demanded the ransom money from your parents when his criminal friend told him about a child trafficking group who was willing to give him twice the amount he had asked for. He didn't want to risk getting traced if he asked again for a raise in the money from your parents so he managed to get two dead girl bodies who had recently died in a house fire and were burnt to the point where they couldn't be recognized and just exchanged your baby clothes with them. He staged a fake accident and the couple was informed. They thought that both of you had died and didn't want a DNA test to verify it. They couldn't bear it." I could see her hands shaking as she spoke but she clasped them tightly together."Was there no mention of all this anywhere in the news?" I was exasperated."He had kidnapped you two before others could be informed that your mother had given birth to triplets. After the couple found the two babies dead, they didn't want anybody to k
I had borrowed Olivia's car for the day. Today was important. It was something I had promised myself to check after I left the mansion.It had taken nearly three hours to arrive. It was a nice sunny Sunday afternoon with birds chirping in the afternoon sun and a pleasant atmosphere. The breeze and the faint smell of the salty sea in the air brought back fun childhood memories spent with my parents and my uncle and aunt.Today was Sunday which reminded me that Ethan was supposed to move out on this day. He hadn't tracked me down and came to talk like he said he was going to on the phone and I wondered if he was just giving me time and space or that he genuinely didn't want anything to do with me anymore. I tried remaining optimistic. There was no way he wouldn't come. On top of that he knew about me from the very beginning and still fell for me so I found no reason as to why he wouldn't find me.We called Heather the next day after returning because we were curio
"Who?" Even I thought Heather's attempts at playing dumb were pathetic."Are you done pretending you don't know anything when I know you've been helping the girl?"Heather sighed, annoyed. "Not yet, no," She grumbled."I just want to see her. Now where did you hide her?""She's not here."There was a pause and I imagined her raising an eyebrow. It annoyed me that I didn't even get a glimpse of her face. Sure, I'd seen her in pictures but I was sure it didn't do her full justice. So I had to imagine myself raising an eyebrow."She ran away." Juliet realized. She was pretty quick at catching on things."She did, just now. Let's leave her alone. Now that you're here, just blend into your role. And how the hell did you know I helped her?""Just when are you going to stop thinking that I have no brain? It's you who's sounding stupid right now by asking that question."I wondered where Ethan was. I already missed him.
I froze. For a full minute I couldn't do anything but gawk at a confused Samara."Are you okay?""Uh," I snapped out of my daze. "What did you say?""I said that a woman is waiting in the living room. She's asking for you and she looks like you. It's unbelievable. I thought you were just messing around but you two really are different people.""I-I'll be right there." My voice came out shaky. I was expecting Juliet to return but nothing had prepared me for this moment.I knew I should immediately find Heather because if Juliet was here then that meant Heather must've known that she was coming. Why didn't she warn me before?But my feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they approached the stairs. I couldn't deny that part of me which wanted to see the woman I had been pretending to be for so many months.I could see the back of her head. She was a redhead but I knew she was a natural brunette and she had just dyed her hair and cho
"That's...strange.""Very much so. Hopefully, there aren't any more clones. I've had enough with you as it is. Once I'm sure everything is under control here, I'll go in search of Juliet.""Will that be necessary? I'm all over the news. Even if Juliet doesn't keep up with the latest news she's bound to hear it from someone, especially when it's about her."Heather seemed to think it over. "Now that I have no idea where she is, that's highly possible.""And before that happens shouldn't I just disappear?""No. At least not yet. Even if she does hear about it, she'll contact me first. I don't think she'd want to come back when she's unintentionally the hot topic right now."I sighed. "What am I to say to the parents?""They're pissed. If you keep being holed up in your room, they'd probably be mad at you for being a coward and that is unlike Juliet."Taking her words into account, I promptly approached them just before lunch.
JULIE'SPOVI shot up into a sitting position once my eyes opened. I immediately regretted sitting up so abruptly because the room spun at great speeds. I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my fingers into my temples. It took some time for me to recall the last thing I could remember which was the argument with Heather.I sighed. I was again torn between what was the right thing to do and what I was forced to do.I noticed an Advil on my nightstand. I immediately chased it down with water, grateful to whoever put it there for me because my headache had just started to set in.The atmosphere at the breakfast table was tense. I had woken up late and everyone had already had their breakfast. Ethan had left for work and I regretted not being able to catch him before he left.I didn't remember much from last night after my argument with Heather. I just hoped I hadn't done anything stupid but if looking at my parents